Many different designs of field installable modular connectors have been proposed. The desirable characteristics of field installable connectors include minimal size, ease of assembly, and reliable termination of the connector to telephone wires. Modular connectors typically include a plurality of interlocking parts, including a housing that defines a standard connector jack, a contact carrier that carries and positions a plurality of insulation displacement contacts for termination to a plurality of individual wires in a wire positioning fixture that positions individual wires for termination within each respective insulation displacement contact. The wire positioning fixture is typically secured to the housing/wire carrier by peripheral latching structural features that cooperate with structural features formed on the housing/contact carrier.
One example of this type of connector is the central latch modular telephone connector described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,310 to Stroede, et al, and assigned to a common assignee, which is incorporated herein by reference. The modular telephone connector of Stroede, et al. '310 consists of a housing adapted to mate with a standard telephone connector and contacts having insulation displacement portions disposed outwardly of the housing and further including a fixture for positioning the wires with respect to the insulation displacement portions. In order to terminate the wires by securing the wire positioning fixture to the housing/contact carrier, it is necessary to apply pressure to the top of the wire positioning fixture. Currently this is accomplished by means such as a pair of pliers. This is disadvantageous as it requires the user to carry around a bulky tool.
Additionally, many of the communication wires that are to be terminated to a modular connector of this type have the wires situated in twisted wire pairs with the cable for cable performance reasons. Therefore, it is necessary when terminating certain communication cables to a modular connector to separate or untwist the twisted wire pairs.